Rita Santos has been re-elected president of the regional council of the Portuguese Communities for Asia and Oceania, Hoje Macau reports.
She entered the election unopposed but despite there being only one option on the ballot, voters were reportedly out in force, with queues forming outside voting stations at various Portuguese consulates.
Santos said the “happy” result showed that people have confidence in her.
“I felt a lot of support throughout the day, which gives us more strength to fulfil what is proposed in our electoral programme,” she told the paper.
[See more: Residency permits for Portuguese nationals come under the spotlight]
Rita Santos said she would prioritise sorting out the dire delays in consular services being experienced at the Consulate General of Portugal in Macao and Hong Kong during her next term.
Portuguese citizens in Macao and Hong Kong have been forced to wait more than six months to renew their identification documents this year, and Santos recently hand delivered a petition to Lisbon calling for a solution.
“After election day I will communicate with the consul […] to resolve this situation,” Santos said to Hoje Macau. “We want the community to have greater ease in obtaining identification documents.”
The Council of the Portuguese Communities is a consulting branch of Portugal’s government. Its remit concerns policies that relate to emigration and the interests of offshore Portuguese communities. The regional council covers mainland China, Macao, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Thailand and Singapore.
